The Boy Scouts of America, struggling to stay afloat while compensating tens of thousands of survivors of past sexual abuse, has pledged to provide a victims’ trust fund with at least $300 million from its local councils and proceeds from insurance policies and the sale of a collection of Norman Rockwell oil paintings.
The offer was detailed in a reorganization plan submitted by the Scouts, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year amid a wave of new sex abuse lawsuits after several states, including California, New York and New Jersey, expanded legal options for childhood victims to sue.
The 379-page plan, filed late Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, did not place a total on how much the 111-year-old youth organization is willing to pay to settle more than 85,000 sex abuse claims by former Scouts.